Carlos Gomez: Former Twin takes pride in defensive ability

Milwaukee center fielder Carlos Gomez makes a leaping catch at the wall off the bat of Cincinnati's Joey Votto to end their game Monday, July 8, 2013, in Milwaukee. (Associated Press: Morry Gash)

PHOENIX -- From Nashville, Class AAA teammates were glued to the television. Their parent club, Milwaukee, was in a ninth-inning thriller against the Cincinnati Reds.

Caleb Gindl remembers the scene.

Two outs. Top of the ninth. The Brewers led, 4-3, with Joey Votto at the plate. One of the game's purest hitters belted a shot to deep center, Carlos Gomez ran to the wall, timed his jump perfectly and...game over.

Votto was in disbelief, demanding to see the ball. Gomez was laughing all the way to the clubhouse.

And in Nashville, Gindl recalls, "everybody was going crazy."

"This guy, he does that every night," Gindl said. "He does something crazy every night. He's just really, really good at what he does."

The great ones make the acrobatic seem routine. An off-balance three-pointer with a hand in the face from Stephen Curry. A twisting, joint-defying pass deflection from Richard Sherman. In baseball, no outfielder tracks down 350-footers quite like Gomez. Last season, the seventh-year pro made it an art form, ending the Brewers' 31-year Gold Glove drought.

This year, Gomez is hoping for an encore. His job isn't as effortless as it appears.

After that grab at Miller Park, Gomez celebrated with teammates and then flashed the ball.

"He's thinking I didn't catch it," Gomez said. "And he wanted to see the ball. So I showed it to him."

To make these game-saving snags, Gomez must first understand the situation every single at-bat.

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How many are on base? Who's at the plate? What's the score? Gomez takes it all into account when deciding where to set up in center field.

When he "plays doubles," Gomez moves back considerably. That gives him ample time to chase down a shot by Votto.

"When you run 30, 40 yards to catch a home run and you jump, you're going to hit the wall really high," Gomez said. "When you play deep, you see a fly ball and you time it; you get a good jump and you can catch it. It depends who's hitting, where we're playing."

Against the Reds, Gomez recalled, there was a runner on first. So he played "really, really deep." Votto fanned the ball so high, running down the ball wasn't difficult.

"When you play 'no doubles,' nothing can be over your head," Gomez said. "Everything has to be in front of you."

Yet, Gindl, a leftfielder himself, knows Gomez can allow himself more leeway. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Gomez is able to play further up in more situations than the average outfielder because he's so athletic and instinctive.

Gindl's top Gomez moment is his catch in Houston, a "tough, tough play," Gindl recalled. This wasn't a catch at the wall. Rather, Gomez sprinted straight back -- up that ankle-twisting hill in deep center at Minute Maid Park -- and cradled an over-the-shoulder out. Such a catch, Gindl adds, requires an immense "focus."

Gomez has a gray area other centerfielders simply cannot afford. Call it a Calvin Johnson-like catching radius in baseball.

"He's a guy who's so good at what he does, he can play normal and get to the fence," Gindl said. "He's that special. He can get to anything.

"For him, he might not have to back up because he's so good at what he does."

Gomez believes the roots of this athleticism, this Gold Glove skill, were planted in playing several different sports as a youth in the Dominican Republic. In addition to baseball, he played basketball, boxed and loved judo. From age 12 to 15, Gomez was all about this martial art.

In judo, the goal is to pin, throw down or immobilize an opponent with a lock hold. While this does demand a certain level of physicality, judo is driven by intelligence above all.

Gomez sees that experience helping him today. He analyzes each at-bat.

"It's more mental," Gomez said of judo. "If you just use power and you're fast, you have to use technique. Use your mind, your brain to try to throw the other guy down.

"It just created, I guess, a new athlete."

As far as the literal act of tracking a ball in the air, Gomez has one theory.

"I've been playing baseball my whole life," he said. "If you paid me a dollar for every fly ball that I've caught, I'd be a billionaire right now. I've been catching the ball a lot, that's where it comes from. Practice."